Turcotte Reflects on Secretariat's TC
Jun 2, 2013 13:12:03 GMT -5
Post by racinggal on Jun 2, 2013 13:12:03 GMT -5
From today's NY Post. It's long but I thought it was very good.
Secretariat jockey reflects on historic Triple Crown 40 years ago
By RON TURCOTTE
June 2, 2013
FRONT-RUNNER: The great Secretariat, with Ron Turcotte up, romps toward the finish line on the way to his 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown. This marks the 40-year anniversary of that iconic run to glory.
Just one week from today will mark 40 years since jockey Ron Turcotte sat atop Secretariat and swept the coveted Triple Crown in their astonishing 31-length victory to win the Belmont Stakes. The romp capped a performance that set a new track record at each stop beginning with the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and ending with a world-record 2:24 for the mile-and-a-half Belmont. Asked about that historic day, the 71-year-old Hall of Fame rider remembers it fondly, as told to Anthony Affrunti.
IT SEEMS like yesterday. I’ll be at Belmont this week. I like to go every year. I haven’t missed the race except for 2007, when I didn’t make it to the track.
APFRONT-RUNNER: The great Secretariat, with Ron Turcotte up, romps toward the finish line on the way to his 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown. This marks the 40-year anniversary of that iconic run to glory.I love Belmont. I made the New York tracks my home. It doesn’t at all feel like it’s been that long. Secretariat could run all day. I had a great disappointment in the Wood Memorial when we lost. Before the Wood, he broke through the gate. He never did that before. We took him back around and went back in. He wasn’t himself. It wasn’t until later that I knew that Secretariat had an abscess in his mouth, that I knew what was wrong with him. Then I was relieved.
I remember the week before the Derby. One night I got a message at my hotel room to meet Lucien [Laurin, trainer] in the suite room. We had a discussion on whether or not to run in the Derby. He said maybe he’s like other Bold Ruler’s, his sire. He can’t do the distance. I kept insisting that he was not your typical Bold Ruler. He was stronger than Bold Ruler. He could run all day, and relax. When I picked his head up, he just took off. The week of the Belmont, we were working faster in the mornings than they were running races in the afternoon. I had a lot of confidence in him.
After the last workout leading up to the Belmont, I told Lucien, “I think this is the best horse to ever look through a bridle. ... If he gets beat, I’ll hang up my tack for good.” That’s how confident I was in him.
I worked some horses that morning, and went to the track. I had a habit of going out to the racetrack before the races to see the depth, what the best spots were, that sort of thing, and I ran into Margarita Velasquez, [jockey] Jorge’s wife. She says, “I had a dream last night. You and Secretariat won by many, many lengths.”
Lucien had him turned around in his stall facing the back leading up to the race. It was like he prepared for the race. They said there were 69,000 at the track that day. I think a lot more came out thanks to all the articles in the papers that week. A lot more got stuck in traffic getting to the track.
He was real relaxed in the post parade. He just galloped around. There was a lot going on. All the cameras were by the gate, CBS had their film crew there, and he was so relaxed it was unbelievable. You can see in their feed, I just walked him right up to the gate. He was led into stall 1, even though he was the 2. There was a scratch of an entry, so we got put in the rail spot.
When we broke we were on the lead. I had to look around to see what everybody else was doing. I didn’t intend to go to the lead, but I had ridden him on the lead before so I wasn’t worried. We had run five-eighths of a mile and he was like a fresh horse. He was going so beautiful. I never really set him down. I moved my hands and chirped to him, and away he went. They had some things along the inside track for the television that hissed a little bit. I just didn’t want him to shy away, even though he was a horse that didn’t spook. I didn’t want to take a chance.
He ran so beautifully. When I pulled him up, the pony boy came over to me and said, “How fast did you go?” I said, “2:24 flat.” He said “What? How do you know?” I said, “I’ve got a clock in my head.” Then I told him that I looked at the infield timer. He says, “You know you broke the track record?” I said, “Well, I can believe it.”
That was the thing about him. He was so versatile. He came from last in the Derby and won. In the Preakness I saw that everybody took back on their horses so we made that sweeping move with him. I told Lucien I could have won by 10 or 15 lengths. He told me he thought I blew the race in the first turn. That’s what made him great. He could win any race any way. He even set the record for a mile-and-five-eighths pulling up after the Belmont. The record for the Belmont, especially the way he did it, never will be duplicated.
It’s great to see his legend continues. Thanks to the Internet, the movie and the documentary, it brought a lot of new people to his achievements — even though the movie took liberties with certain things, and made the story a little differently than it was.
It would be nice to see a Triple Crown winner again, but I think a lot has changed. They say horses are not as tough as they used to be. I don’t believe that. It’s different training today. You had old horsemen back then. They trained a horse up to the race. They were horsemen. Now it’s strictly a business. It’s not a sport like it used to be. I can’t see how anybody can train 100 horses. They’re not hands-on. When I started riding, trainers worked with you. It was a team effort. It was like that up to when I got hurt.
I remember one morning, the old trainer Holly Hughes — who won the Derby in 1916 with George Smith — was out on the track apron holding court. A bunch of guys were there, Woody Stephens, all good horsemen. Hughes said the only way I lose with Secretariat is if I fall off. This was a guy who saw all the greats run — Exterminator, Man o’ War, all the greats.
I’ll never forget, he told me, “Secretariat is the best I ever saw. He’s also the best looking S.O.B. I ever saw too. I’ve seen them all, and he’s the greatest that ever lived.”
That’s saying a lot.
Secretariat jockey reflects on historic Triple Crown 40 years ago
By RON TURCOTTE
June 2, 2013
FRONT-RUNNER: The great Secretariat, with Ron Turcotte up, romps toward the finish line on the way to his 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown. This marks the 40-year anniversary of that iconic run to glory.
Just one week from today will mark 40 years since jockey Ron Turcotte sat atop Secretariat and swept the coveted Triple Crown in their astonishing 31-length victory to win the Belmont Stakes. The romp capped a performance that set a new track record at each stop beginning with the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and ending with a world-record 2:24 for the mile-and-a-half Belmont. Asked about that historic day, the 71-year-old Hall of Fame rider remembers it fondly, as told to Anthony Affrunti.
IT SEEMS like yesterday. I’ll be at Belmont this week. I like to go every year. I haven’t missed the race except for 2007, when I didn’t make it to the track.
APFRONT-RUNNER: The great Secretariat, with Ron Turcotte up, romps toward the finish line on the way to his 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown. This marks the 40-year anniversary of that iconic run to glory.I love Belmont. I made the New York tracks my home. It doesn’t at all feel like it’s been that long. Secretariat could run all day. I had a great disappointment in the Wood Memorial when we lost. Before the Wood, he broke through the gate. He never did that before. We took him back around and went back in. He wasn’t himself. It wasn’t until later that I knew that Secretariat had an abscess in his mouth, that I knew what was wrong with him. Then I was relieved.
I remember the week before the Derby. One night I got a message at my hotel room to meet Lucien [Laurin, trainer] in the suite room. We had a discussion on whether or not to run in the Derby. He said maybe he’s like other Bold Ruler’s, his sire. He can’t do the distance. I kept insisting that he was not your typical Bold Ruler. He was stronger than Bold Ruler. He could run all day, and relax. When I picked his head up, he just took off. The week of the Belmont, we were working faster in the mornings than they were running races in the afternoon. I had a lot of confidence in him.
After the last workout leading up to the Belmont, I told Lucien, “I think this is the best horse to ever look through a bridle. ... If he gets beat, I’ll hang up my tack for good.” That’s how confident I was in him.
I worked some horses that morning, and went to the track. I had a habit of going out to the racetrack before the races to see the depth, what the best spots were, that sort of thing, and I ran into Margarita Velasquez, [jockey] Jorge’s wife. She says, “I had a dream last night. You and Secretariat won by many, many lengths.”
Lucien had him turned around in his stall facing the back leading up to the race. It was like he prepared for the race. They said there were 69,000 at the track that day. I think a lot more came out thanks to all the articles in the papers that week. A lot more got stuck in traffic getting to the track.
He was real relaxed in the post parade. He just galloped around. There was a lot going on. All the cameras were by the gate, CBS had their film crew there, and he was so relaxed it was unbelievable. You can see in their feed, I just walked him right up to the gate. He was led into stall 1, even though he was the 2. There was a scratch of an entry, so we got put in the rail spot.
When we broke we were on the lead. I had to look around to see what everybody else was doing. I didn’t intend to go to the lead, but I had ridden him on the lead before so I wasn’t worried. We had run five-eighths of a mile and he was like a fresh horse. He was going so beautiful. I never really set him down. I moved my hands and chirped to him, and away he went. They had some things along the inside track for the television that hissed a little bit. I just didn’t want him to shy away, even though he was a horse that didn’t spook. I didn’t want to take a chance.
He ran so beautifully. When I pulled him up, the pony boy came over to me and said, “How fast did you go?” I said, “2:24 flat.” He said “What? How do you know?” I said, “I’ve got a clock in my head.” Then I told him that I looked at the infield timer. He says, “You know you broke the track record?” I said, “Well, I can believe it.”
That was the thing about him. He was so versatile. He came from last in the Derby and won. In the Preakness I saw that everybody took back on their horses so we made that sweeping move with him. I told Lucien I could have won by 10 or 15 lengths. He told me he thought I blew the race in the first turn. That’s what made him great. He could win any race any way. He even set the record for a mile-and-five-eighths pulling up after the Belmont. The record for the Belmont, especially the way he did it, never will be duplicated.
It’s great to see his legend continues. Thanks to the Internet, the movie and the documentary, it brought a lot of new people to his achievements — even though the movie took liberties with certain things, and made the story a little differently than it was.
It would be nice to see a Triple Crown winner again, but I think a lot has changed. They say horses are not as tough as they used to be. I don’t believe that. It’s different training today. You had old horsemen back then. They trained a horse up to the race. They were horsemen. Now it’s strictly a business. It’s not a sport like it used to be. I can’t see how anybody can train 100 horses. They’re not hands-on. When I started riding, trainers worked with you. It was a team effort. It was like that up to when I got hurt.
I remember one morning, the old trainer Holly Hughes — who won the Derby in 1916 with George Smith — was out on the track apron holding court. A bunch of guys were there, Woody Stephens, all good horsemen. Hughes said the only way I lose with Secretariat is if I fall off. This was a guy who saw all the greats run — Exterminator, Man o’ War, all the greats.
I’ll never forget, he told me, “Secretariat is the best I ever saw. He’s also the best looking S.O.B. I ever saw too. I’ve seen them all, and he’s the greatest that ever lived.”
That’s saying a lot.